Does Elias Pharmacy know about Oxycodone?

Al Capone was untouchable. The US Federal authorities could not nail him on drug charges, so they turned their attention to tax evasion. The Capone case is often referenced as an example of how sometimes, if it seems difficult to catch a crook on one set of allegations, there might be other avenues pertaining to other seemingly unrelated allegations.

That was the case with one of Sam Cohen’s pharmacists by the name of Jonathan Fryar. When I originally phoned him to warn him about Sam Cohen of IHRB, he was already under investigation for matters relating to steroids. When Police first raided IHRB, and the authorities realised that the then supplying pharmacist was Jonathan Fryar, they must have been jumping for joy to have found another angle that could help them to secure their case. It was sad that Mr Fryar did not take heed of my call, when he was very much in deep water at the time.

So now we arrive at a new raid and a new investigation into IHRB and into Elias Pharmacy. Upon updating this website with articles relating to allegations against Messrs Elias Juanas and Roberto Mamblona of Elias Pharmacy of Fairfield, I started to receive information from strangers who came out from the woodwork to supply information and news, along with accusations, complaints, hearsay, and gossip. Often, we can do little more than file the information until additional pieces of the puzzle emerge.

Pharmacist, Mr Elias Juanas of Elias Pharmacy in Fairfield, is currently under investigation by the Health Care Complaints Commission. He and Mr Roberto Mamblona have conditions placed upon them by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

Recently, I received a tip-off from someone who alleges that if the authorities were to look into Elias Pharmacy’s stock and dispensing records relating to controlled drugs of addiction, the authorities might well benefit from such an investigation. I encouraged the caller to write a letter to certain Departments, to outline what they know about allegations that Elias Pharmacy might have acted improperly when dispensing Oxycodone, which is a painkiller also known as OxyContin.

Oxycodone is known in the streets as Hillbilly Heroin, and it has been reported that the authorities hold fears about a possible deadly epidemic, as has been reported widely, including The Courier Mail and on ABC News and on NineMSN where it was reported that pensioners are selling their stash of Oxycodone for up to $4,000 per box.

We will ask the Authorities to look into these fresh allegations that have been levelled against Elias Pharmacy. We hope that the pharmacists do not have anything to answer, and that such allegations are unfounded, because if they are true, it would add fuel to existing allegations that are already raising too many questions about Elias Pharmacy’s relationship with Mr Cohen of IHRB.

On the notice board behind where the pharmacists stand at Elias Pharmacy, we see this notice (blurred) from the Pharmacy Guild, referring to Schedule 8 (Drugs of Addiction). The notice is specifically about OxyContin. It is interesting to note that the HCCC had imposed Conditions upon both Elias Juanas and Roberto Mamblona which state that these two pharmacists, ‘Must not possess, handle, supply, dispense, administer, or manufacture any substance detailed in Schedule 8 of the NSW Poisons List (drug of addiction, derivative or compound medication)…’ The link between the allegations and the Conditions is curious indeed!

The Health Department had stepped-in to make it difficult for drug addicts to dissolve and inject this drug, by working with manufacturers to change the formulation and by creating what is known as ‘tamper resistant’ versions of the drug, which started to be sold in varying slow-release doses. You can read more from The Pharmacy Guild here. In its newsletter, The Guild reported, ‘Data obtained from the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Sydney’s Kings Cross shows a sudden decline in visits to the centre, from 800 Oxycontin injections per week down to just 50… Oxycontin can still be taken orally, and there is the strong possibility that other drugs will see higher usage rates as the users shift away from tamper-resistant Oxycontin.’

ABC News filed a report about the usage and the emerging new drugs that are of concern. The Guild also warned about a possible shift to products such as Endone, saying, ‘Pharmacists should also watch for increases in prescriptions for similar medicines such as oxycodone hydrochloride (Endone) once the reformulated oxycodone tablets are introduced. Pharmacists should also exercise caution for these products prior to dispensing.’

There are pharmacists who actively break the law in relation to dispensing Schedule 8 (drugs of addiction), and we can only hope that the final investigation into Elias Pharmacy will not reveal any misconduct in this area. Apart from the dangers of unscrupulous pharmacists, The Guild provided these tips to ethical pharmacist about how to spot forged prescriptions:

Tips for detecting forged prescriptions are:

— Legitimate users of oxycodone are likely to have PBS authority prescriptions for larger quantities

— Check the doctor’s qualifications (these are sometimes written incorrectly on forged prescriptions)

— Carefully check the patient details for the prescription as often offenders use stolen Medicare cards and other types of identification

— Contact the prescribing doctor to confirm prescription is genuine (offenders often type the doctor’s details on the prescription without their knowledge)

— Ensure the surgery phone number attached to the prescription is genuine by checking the number independently through other avenues such as via the internet (offenders often type personal numbers on the prescriptions and purport to be the prescribing doctor if they are called.)

— Be vigilant and ask questions if the prescription was not produced by a doctor in the pharmacy’s local area

— The name, strength and quantity (expressed in both words and figures) of the oxycodone prescribed must be on the prescription.

Years in breach of Sanctions

As at 19 August 2015, IHRB is 3 years & 289 days (that's 1,385 days) overdue on complying with the Sanctions set by the Complaints Resolution Panel which found that IHRB's ads have been 'unlawful, misleading, and unverified'. To learn more, see the 'Days in breach' section in the menu at the top of this page.

Days in breach of TGA Orders

As at 19 August 2015, Sam Cohen and IHRB are 544 days in breach of TGA Orders that demanded that IHRB stop its misleading, deceptive, and unlawful claims and to remove its statements from its website. The TGA also Ordered IHRB to publish a retraction on its website. Despite eventually publishing the retraction, IHRB is still in breach of these TGA Orders. Such a breach constitutes a criminal offence. To learn more, see the 'Days in breach' section in the menu at the top of this page.